Paper Observatory's Last Full Day. Removal on Friday.

     To think I almost wasn't able to accept Secret Rage's extremely generous offer to build a full sim exhibit at LEA. I was working on two other projects, and didn't see how I could manage a full sim in addition. Plus, the invitation came two days before New Years, and the exhibit would have to be built quickly, for I would have the sim for only the month of January. Then it struck me, this was a golden opportunity I couldn't pass up. For months, I'd been leisurely considering working on plans to make a variation of the Paper Tower at ACC Alpha. In addition, I'd been visualizing a city with a skyline resembling a satellite dish's dip. To fashion a city that looked like a giant lens. I could see it in my head, but I didn't have enough prims at my sky studio to attempt such a project. I accepted Secret Rage's invitation and got right to work.

     It's been a very exciting experience, and the feedback has been so encouraging. With only a bit over a day left, I'm rushing to finish up as much filming and photographing as I can in preparation for the machinima. I'm also preparing for my next exhibit opening the day after, Feb 1, which I will include in the next post.

     For those who were able to come see the Paper Observatory, I'm very grateful that you did. And for those who weren't able to visit, I will post the link to the film I'm planing to make on this blog, probably sometime around April.

The Paper Observatory at the LEA21 sim in Second Life will be disassembled in the evening of January 31 (Friday).

XXX

OPENING: "PAPER OBSERVATORY"

Don't miss the fun! Make your excuses at those somber meetings, and fly
instead above the Observatory to meet the planets and stars.
PHOTO: A new scene in the arena area of the exhibit.

STARS! SATELLITES! SUNS!

On January 18, at 1 pm SLT, avatars will be orbiting the space around the Paper Observatory at the LEA21 sim. Will you be one of them? I am planning to film, no lag willing! If you would like to fly among the stars, please dress as a star, satellite, or sun, however you imagine them to be. Or just come as you are, if you prefer :)

WHEN: Saturday, January 18, at 1 PM SLT.

WHERE: The Lea21 sim.  CLICK HERE FOR TRANSPORT

             SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA21/184/113/51

WHY: Because you are a star.

HOW: Come as you are, or in your celestial trappings.

WHAT: This is an installation I built called PAPER OBSERVATORY, on view during the month of January 2014. I decided to make a film about it. The lower levels of the build show people performing rituals, from a time when superstition defined the world: disease was the work of demons and the world was flat. Floating above this, is the Observatory which issued a new era of discovery: questioning by evidence.

Please join in!

Thanks,

Haveit Neox

APOLOGY: As I'll be filming parts of the event, I close my IM windows so they do not block the screen. So, if you speak to me and I don't respond, it is because my windows are closed. I'll read the messages after filming and get back to people. Thanks for your understanding :)

P.S.   I am also considering creating a tear-down event on January 31, where the build collapses. Please check my blog listed above to check for developments. Thanks!

XXX

THE PAPER OBSERVATORY

THE PAPER OBSERVATORY

by Haveit Neox
on the LEA 21 sim
full month of January, 2014

     Having been invited on very short notice (2 days!) to build on the LEA 21 sim in January, I gratefully accepted this opportunity to develop and work on the concept of an observatory, the “Paper Observatory”. After a week of building, the exhibit is ready to be seen. The inspiration and initial model for this project is the 4 year old Paper Tower on the sim ACC Alpha, this tower being a giant structure in the center of my sim which harbors the visitor center and galleries.

     The new Paper Observatory on the LEA21 sim hovers above an ample arena. The city leading up to this build is concentric; rooftops conforming into one large sweep of concavity, suggests a satellite dish. The human activities displayed in the streets and the main square reflect on superstitious times before science’s tenet of universal proof, before disease was known to be microbial or before the earth was discovered to be round. In the sky, the Observatory catches the sunlight. This is Second Life, and we can flap our way up to the building’s landing. Requiring flight into the Observatory is an intended motion which I equate with the turning of a page in a book. The walls are of paper since this structure, as its predecessor, is my version of a book. During the month of January, I will continue to refine the textures and the shapes. The deconstruction motif at the base of the structure reflects directly onto the Paper Tower’s story, whose exposed girder skeleton belies questions of permanence.

     As the Paper Tower is dedicated to arts, the Observatory will be connected to science and therefore be a venue where one could gather information and get in touch with thought provoking theories.

     We live in a time of challenges unlike any other in history. Global Warming is not a political issue, it is an ecological one with direct biological consequences, and it is here now. It affects all of us, no matter our belief systems. In the very near future, as we advance into a world which will be much compromised and readied for the wars of water and the wars of food, the best strategy we can have is to assimilate education from proper scientists, and take the necessary steps without delay. As I learn more about science, I would like to share some of these valuable tools with visitors.


Please check accalpha.blogspot.com for information about my builds and for updates on the latest projects.

Click ME to teleport to the landing spot of the exhibit.

XXX

Idus December: Night of the Winter Creatures

Happy Holidays!

Lilia Artis, Moeuhane Sandalwood, and myself set up our Winter inspired installation inside the Palazzo of Lost Town (on the sim LAND OF GLORY). It's called "Idus December: Night of the Winter Creatures." A surprise followed. Recently, Veyot made a charming film of our exhibit “Idus December: Night of the Winter Creatures”. If you visit Lost Town, make sure to explore. The creators of the city, Sivi and Akilae, have invited several artists to participate in this Winterfest. A major exhibit called “invisible People” by Rebeca Bashly weaves thru the streets, where textures render the figures transparent when viewed at certain angles.

Lilia, Moe and I worked together on this installation. We took our idea from Rebeca Bashly's exhibit  'Invisible People', and chose to play on that theme, asking ourselves, who then, are the 'visible' people? We each interpreted this in our own way, and brought our vision together in the build. For myself, I've written my viewpoint here:

STORY

Invisible people: including the homeless, or people with debilitating fears, hermits, and other estranged citizens live in the shadows of the city. They are invisible either by choice or circumstance. The rest of the citizens remain in the 'light'. We are the nobles, living by the dictates of our particular cultures. Cultures within cultures, we all do the same thing, we single out those who do not fit. Displaying ourselves in the light, laughing at the circus around us, believing ourselves to be exempt from it, we rarely perceive the 'snowballs' coming our way, and when reality hits at given moments, it can leave us chilled.

I could not make an LM to take you directly to the Palazzo, as the sim appears to have a forced landing point on the opposite side of the city. If you look on the mini map, the Palazzo is on the north rim, a little bit West of center. You can't miss the glow inside! If you open the SL map, type in LAND OF GLORY for the sim, and you will arrive to Lost Town.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH Veyot’s film touring the Palazzo.

XXX

MOVING ISLANDS

Partial view of the installation.

Beginning tomorrow, Sunday, Eupalinos Ugajin's group exhibit "Moving Islands" will open on the sim LEA20 in the Second Life virtual world. I will be one of the participating artists. Most of the 'rafts' are scripted so that they interact on the mirror slick ocean (and in some cases below the ocean's surface). I went by to see how the sim looked with the rafts in place, which is quite astounding. Derek Michelson and Oberon Onmura wrote scripts which many participants used. The exhibit will evolve over its run from now into December.

Click HERE to visit the exhibit.

The photo above shows the pieces I made. The composition is called "Mythic Raft"

I plan to update this day's blog as other infos come available.

The artists in Eupalinos' exhibit, as listed on the invitation texture:

Alpha Auer
Artistide Despres
Aston Leisen
CapCat Ragu
Cica Ghost
Cutea Benelli
Derek Michelson
Eupalinos Ugajin
Haveit Neox
Kake Broek
Kikas Babenco
Livio Korobase
Maclane Mills
Marmaduke Arado
Maya Paris
Meilo Minotaur
Merlino Mayo
Oberon Onmura
Ole Etzel
Pallina60 Loon
Scottius Polke
Simotron Aquila
Takio Ra
Uan Ceriaptrix
... and it is possible the list will grow. Stay tuned!


UPDATE: Movie LAST GREEN

I made a film that takes place in the Moving Islands installation. It's called "ProjectSciFi 2013 LAST GREEN"
Click HERE to watch the film.

XXX

Overnight Development at Darkrodin Pier

Darkrodin Pier leads up to the cliff side neighborhood of Medusa Locks.

     For a year, the pier had no structures on it, except for traces of ruins and boardwalks from previous developments. Once a home to the Visitor Center, gardens (most notably Herolds’ Knoll: a hill top garden which exploded like a volcano, leaving the ocean pocket where a plaque commemorates the Prim Mausoleum which used to stand here), the remaining fragments of land now support the extended village seen in the photo. Built in one day, with a meagre prim allowance, my dream of having an urban neighborhood finally comes to light.

Houses surround Darkrodin Plaza, a small open space which has seen
many alterations in its years of existence.

     The houses are only two prims: A hollowed phantom cube, and a roof. By necessity, this neighborhood has to be minimal in prim usage, as the sim’s resources are stretched. Last night and again this morning, I worked on ideas how to ‘furnish’ the interiors with no more than 1 prim each. There are two approaches I’m currently working on. The first is simply to make the interior walls of an interesting architectural texture and brought down to 50 % opacity. Therefore, from the interior, you look onto the neighboring views, veiled in a pleasant composition. The effect comprises multiple layers in some locations. The second approach is to make animated panels using Prim Generator. This way, I can produce several objects using only one prim count. The sculpt can then be pulled to conform to the interior measurements of the house.

     I also placed a gift temporarily in one of the squares.

     About the textures: Most of them are what I sketched roughly of a Venetian façade in charcoal. Taking this into Photoshop, a couple variations help to give variety to the pier. I superimposed in some areas of the texture an African charcoal drawing I’d made a few months ago. Being roughly drawn in charcoal, the styles complement each other.

ARIETE NEL CUORE at Maze Gardens

I purchased a statue by SL artist Maddomxc (based on the RL work of Mazzieri) for Maze Gardens. The luminous golden figure holds a rotating globe in the left hand, and leans back with all the weight of the world in his/her thoughts. I'm not sure if the model is male or female. I found the ambiguity particularly fitting for a public fountain, where visitors will see him/her as they choose. On Google Translate, the Italian is rendered as 'Ram of the Heart'. I don't know the story behind this title, nor am I sure if that was a correct translation. For the present, it remains a mystery to me, while the artwork itself shines warmly in its new home along the North Shore edge of Maze Gardens.

XXX